George H. Crosby Manitou State Park

About this park

George H. Crosby Manitou State Park, formally established in 1955, was a direct gift from George H. Crosby, a mining magnate whose fortune came from developing both the Mesabi and Cuyuna iron ranges. From the outset, the state deliberately chose to keep this 6,200-acre tract on the Manitou River minimally developed, and the result is widely considered Minnesota's most primitive state park, flanking one of the deepest, most rugged gorges anywhere along the North Shore. Rather than a conventional campground, Crosby Manitou offers only primitive backpacker campsites scattered through the park and accessible solely by foot trail, with no vehicle camping available anywhere on the property. The park has no office or visitor center of its own; it is administered remotely from Tettegouche State Park, roughly 14 miles away, reflecting just how committed the state has remained to keeping this particular park undeveloped since Crosby's original gift. The arduous trails that wind along the untamed Manitou River reward hikers willing to carry in their own gear with genuinely wild North Shore scenery, waterfalls, and river gorge views found in few other places this accessible in the Minnesota system. Located roughly seven miles north of the small community of Finland, just off the North Shore Scenic Drive, the park draws a self-selecting population of serious backpackers specifically seeking the kind of rugged, lightly managed wilderness experience that has largely disappeared from Minnesota's more developed state parks.